About 1,600 working-age disabled people are dying every year after having their claim for disability benefits rejected, the government has been forced to admit.

The
Department for Work and Pensions figures (DWP) reveal that 7,990 disabled people who
lodged a claim for person independence payment (PIP) in the five years after
the new benefit was launched in April 2013 had died within six months of
registering their claim, while also having that claim rejected.

These
figures mean that more than 130 working-age disabled people a month have been
found ineligible for PIP following an initial assessment by government
contractors Atos and Capita but were still so unwell that they died soon
afterwards*.

Another
set of figures
released by DWP shows that 3,680 disabled people – or more than 60 a month –
died within three months of their initial PIP applications being rejected by
DWP.

Marsha de
Cordova, Labour’s shadow minister for disabled people, said: “These shocking
figures show that the cruel and callous PIP assessment is unfit for purpose.

“That
thousands of people die three months after being denied vital social security
payments is disgraceful.

“Ill and
disabled people are being failed [with]the most tragic consequences.

“Labour will
end the hostile environment in the DWP and replace the PIP assessment framework
with a system that treats disabled people with dignity and respect.”

The figures were
released to Labour MP Madeleine Moon by Sarah Newton, the minister for disabled
people.

It was Moon who
secured other figures last month which showed that more than 17,000
PIP claimants – out of a total of more than 3.6 million – had died during the
five years while waiting for DWP to make a decision on their claim.

Newton also
told her last week that 11,790 of these undecided claims were dealt
with under “normal rules” and so had not been fast-tracked because they were
terminally-ill.

The Bridgend
MP said this week: “These shameful
figures reveal how gravely ill people, eligible for benefits, have tragically
fallen through the cracks of a failing system as they approach the end of life.

“Questions to the DWP have uncovered many
cases where terminally ill people have had their PIP applications rejected when
applying under normal rules** and have died within six months.

“It is disgusting that people who are dying
have not been treated with compassion and support and their claim fast tracked.

“When you only have a short time left to live you must not be let down
by a callous system which is not fit for purpose.”

Moon has
introduced a private members’ bill, which would remove the current
“arbitrary” time limit which means claimants can only be treated as
terminally-ill if they have less than six months left to live.

She said: “My bill will bring the changes needed to ensure we bring
dignity and some financial security to the terminally ill and their families.

“All terminally ill people should be able to access the special rules
for terminal illness (SRTI) process.

“The clinical judgement of a healthcare professional should be enough
to determine when someone has a terminal condition, without reference to a six
months prognosis.

“Removing the arbitrary time limit provides medical professionals with
greater clarity, and more importantly, ensures the terminally ill receive
support with the speed and compassion they deserve.”

There are
similarities between the new figures secured by Moon and statistics released
by DWP in 2015, which showed that about 100 disabled people every
month who had applied for employment and support allowance (ESA) were dying
soon after being found fit for work.

As with the
ESA figures, it is not currently possible to draw clear conclusions about how
deeply flawed the PIP assessment process is because of DWP’s failure to release
comparable statistics for the general population.

Disabled
People Against Cuts researcher Anita Bellows, who has previously carried
out widely-praised work examining the PIP contracts awarded to Atos and Capita,
said: “Once again, the spotlight is on disability assessment contractors, Atos
and Capita, and on the DWP, after the release of figures showing the number of
claimants dying after their PIP were disallowed.”

She said the figures should be viewed in the light of around
70 per cent of claimants appealing a PIP decision having the initial
decision overturned by a tribunal.

She said: “So it can be said with certitude that some of these people who
died were denied the support they were entitled to, or they might have died
because of this lack of support.

“DWP, Atos and Capita have shown time and time again that they are not
fit for purpose, and neither are the tests supposed to assess disability and
fitness for work, which have lost all credibility.

“It is time to overhaul the whole system to prevent it doing further harm.”

A DWP spokesperson refused to say whether Newton agreed that the figures
showed that the PIP process was failing a substantial number of very ill people.

But she said in a statement: “DWP decision makers take into consideration
all the evidence provided, including from their medical professionals, when
determining eligibility for PIP.

“Meanwhile, we fast-track the claim process for people who have been
diagnosed with a terminal illness.

“We are determined that people get the support they need and under PIP 31
per cent of people get the highest possible support, compared with 15 per cent
under DLA.

“We are also stopping unnecessary reassessment for PIP for people with
the most severe and life-long conditions.”

She also said that new SRTI claims currently take an average of six
working days to process.

She said: “We are absolutely committed to
improving the overall PIP claimant experience as this is what claimants rightly
expect and deserve.

“Our thoughts are with the friends and family of anyone who has passed
away but there is no evidence in this data to suggest someone’s reason for
claiming PIP was the cause of their death and it would be misleading to suggest
otherwise.

“People claim PIP for various reasons, the majority of which are non-life
threatening.”

Meanwhile,
DWP has published the
results of its annual benefits satisfaction survey, which show that
the percentage of PIP claimants who had been in contact with DWP in the
previous three months and were satisfied with the service they received plunged
from 87 per cent in 2016-17 to 82 per cent in 2017-18.

The
proportion who said they were dissatisfied rose from 12 to 17 per cent, and the
proportion who said they were very dissatisfied almost doubled, increasing from
five to nine per cent.

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